More Food for Thought…

Indeed! Drinking more than 100 mL of coffee and tea per day can reduce risk for glioma, which was particularly true for men. Coffee and tea consumption also slows the growth of glioblatomas. However, when tested on brain cancer, coffee and tea consumption did neither to prevent or exacerbate the tumor. American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, 2010, Nov, 92 (5).

What diet should my dog be on?

Plain and simple, a high anti-oxidant diet from mixed sources. Our fury-babies suffer a similar cognitive decline in old age to us humans so we should be as concerned about them as we are of ourselves. Starting a diet rich in anti-oxidants offered learning and memory improvements for dogs with only 2 weeks of starting the diet! Reviews in the Journal of Neuroscience, Oct 14, 2009, 29 (41). This article is available free online.

Does restricting calories lead to healthier brains?

Indeed! But so far we have only tested this outright in rodents and rhesus monkeys, the latter of which are close enough to use that it gives much evidence to proceed to human studies. These laboratory studies show that reducing caloric intake is the most effective way to slow signs of aging. It increases lifespan, reduces the incidence of chronic disease, and enhances stress protection. Correlation studies show that reduced caloric intake is associated with a reduced risk of developing Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s diseases. The studies showed that reductions of 30 – 50% of calories are necessary to achieve this, and of course, this is of an already healthy diet. Interestingly, there is a substance in high concentration in red grapes that produces similar results to calorie-restricted diets, known as resveratol. Hmmm… sounds like a recipe for less cheesecake and more red wine. Not a bad compromise?

The composition of Supradyn1 included three times the Recommended Daily Allowance (RDA) of the water soluble vitamins, the RDA of the fat-soluble vitamins, 0.5–1 RDA of the trace elements and at least 15% of the RDA for the minerals calcium, magnesium and phosphorous.